Arthur Lockhart
Background Information ☯'Personality' Arthur is a very quiet person, preferring to stick by himself and only observe other people from afar. That isn't to say that he doesn't like people, since he very much does, but he's content with being by himself, and besides he tends to be a little awkward around others. Instead, he spends most of his time observing his surroundings and composing poetry, which is his true passion. He can spend hours doing nothing but staring at the night sky and thinking up haiku to describe it, and often he'll become so absorbed that he loses track of time. However, he's a bit shy about sharing his poetry, so generally anyone who wants to read it has to get a published copy. While he is a bit of the hopeless romantic type, though, he is also very intelligent, and his constant observation of the world has made him extremely perceptive. He may not be very powerful, but on the few occasions when it's been required of him, he's demonstrated an ability to go head-to-head with even some of Gensokyo's greatest minds. ☯'Appearance' Arthur is very unassuming in appearance, standing at a modest 5'6" and having a young-looking, somewhat feminine face that often causes him to be mistaken for a boy several years younger than his age. Together with his short, unremarkable brown hair and his tendency to dress purely business-casual at all times, which usually means suits or vests in muted earth-tone colors, he is easy to overlook and tends to shrink into the background. The one notable feature about him is his eyes, which are a bright emerald green and gleam with intelligence, often being described as "piercing" or "looking through you". This is mitigated somewhat by the thick pair of round glasses he wears over them, but not by much. ☯'Theme Songs' * Adi Goldstein - Tears of Joy (Regular) * ColibriMusic - Nature (Battle) * James Paget - The Hero Within (Last Word) Backstory He is originally from America, but he came to Japan as an exchange student due to his interest in Japanese culture, language, and especially poetry. While studying at the University of Kyoto, he met Koishi Komeiji, who had somehow managed to slip past the Hakurei Barrier, and briefly took her in, not knowing her true nature. Shortly afterward, though, Yukari Yakumo appeared in order to bring Koishi back to Gensokyo, and Arthur was "accidentally" brought back along with her. At first Arthur was disoriented, but he soon managed to meet Marisa Kirisame, who introduced him to her friend Alice Margatroid and together with her taught him magic. He now technically lives in the Human Village, but he is rarely there since he's made it his goal to see as much of Gensokyo as he can in order to write poetry about its nature and citizens. He has already published a few small collections in the Human Village that have received some modest popularity. Story ☯'Accidental Attraction' Arthur stumbled upon Mayohiga while exploring in the mountains of Gensokyo, and there he met Ayase, whom he had already met before. Ayase invited him to play with her, but as he did so, one thing led to another, and they became intimate. Afterward they confessed their feelings for each other, but they decided to keep their relationship secret, fearing what might happen if Ayase's guardians Ran and Chen found out. ☯'In Search of Sukima' () Relationships ☯'Alice Margatroid' Arthur was introduced to Alice by Marisa, and together the two of them helped him acclimate himself to Gensokyo. Alice in particular he looks up to as a mentor figure, as it was she who taught him the majority of his magic. They are still friends and he often stops by her home in the Forest of Magic for tea and discussions about magic. ☯'Ayase' He found her wandering lost one day in the mountains on the outer edge of Gensokyo, and he kept her company until Ran Yakumo eventually came to retrieve her. Because of this incident, she came to see him as something of an older brother figure, and on the few occasions when they met afterward Arthur acted as a friend and playmate for her. However, more recently, their relationship has taken a turn for the romantic, and they've begun meeting one another more frequently in secret. So far Ayase's caretakers Ran and Chen do not seem to be aware of this development, but Arthur does have plans to tell them. Eventually. ☯'Koishi Komeiji' Koishi was the first person from Gensokyo he met, and because of the circumstances surrounding this the two have become good friends. They often encounter one another on their respective wanderings and stop to play or exchange stories. Unbenownst to Koishi, Arthur does harbor a crush on her, but due to a combination of things including her mental state, his own shyness, and the fact that Koishi's sister, Satori, dislikes him, he has never acted on it. ☯'Marisa Kirisame' Marisa met Arthur soon after he arrived in Gensokyo, and together with Alice she taught him magic and helped him get his bearings on his new situation. He and Marisa are still friends, and whenever they happen to meet, they often stop to chat or have a friendly danmaku battle with one another. So far, Arthur has never won. Marisa isn't interested in Arthur's poetry but does find his outside world experience intriguing. ☯'Rinnosuke Morichika' Since Arthur is from the outside world, he's both interesting and invaluable to Rinnosuke, who often asks him for help figuring out how to use the outside world artifacts he collects. Unfortunately, Arthur is not terribly technologically literate, so there's only so much he can do, but he has still proven a great help to the shopkeeper. It was Rinnosuke who made Arthur's magical pen and notebook. ☯'Sanae Kochiya' Since both arrived only recently from the outside world, they managed to bond over this and have become fast friends. Sanae finds the information Arthur has to tell her about events in the outside world since her departure interesting, and they both enjoy having someone around who understands the references they make, even if Sanae's are just slightly outdated at this point. Arthur frequently drops by the Moriya Shrine to talk to her, and he is also on good terms with the goddesses of the shrine, Suwako Moriya and Kanako Yasaka. ☯'Yukari Yakumo' She brought him to Gensokyo purely on a whim, but they don't seem to know each other much outside of that. He has encountered her a few more times since then but isn't sure if she even remembers who he is. Abilities ☯'Ability to See Absolute Truth' Arthur has the ability to see absolute truth. He cannot be fooled by any illusion, magic spell, mental manipulation, or hallucination; if he is seeing something, then that is how it is, no more, no less. The only exception is when his vision itself is physically impaired, such as by his own shortsightedness, or by something actually obstructing his view. But as long as he can see clearly, no detail about what he can see will differ from the truth. It's unknown whether this ability is actually supernatural in origin, or whether he simply has an unusually strong mental fortitude, but if it's the latter, then that means that his mind must be much stronger than most. ☯'Magical Skill' He also possesses some skill in magic, and while he's nowhere near the level of magicians like Patchouli Knowledge or Marisa Kirisame, he makes up for his lack of raw power with technique and strategy. He channels his magic through a magical notebook and pen that he always carries with him, which were made for him by Rinnosuke Morichika. The notebook is enchanted to have an unlimited number of pages, while the pen never runs out of ink, and both automatically teleport back to him if he ever loses them. Danmaku He typically employs orb-shaped danmaku of many different colors. His fighting style tends to place heavy emphasis on aesthetics, with many of his spell cards being very colorful and showy, often in ways that aren't strictly necessary. He normally channels his danmaku through his pen, while his notebook is used in many of his spell cards. Spell Cards Trivia * A "satori moment" is that moment during the reading of a haiku when one briefly achieves complete understanding of the whole. "Satori" in this context means "enlightenment" and is etymologically related to, but different from, the species of youkai also called "satori". * His spell card "Color Slide" is a reference to Billy Collins's 1988 poem "Introduction to Poetry". * Even though he is from America, his parents are originally from Britain. As such, he has a slight British accent that may sometimes overtake his American one. Category:Characters Category:Males